“Shall we start playing with EICAS messages?” he tweeted. “‘PASS OXYGEN ON’ Anyone?
” The smiley face was a nice touch, but the two FBI agents waiting for Roberts in the boarding lounge when the flight landed at Syracuse were not amused. (United cybersecurity personnel had seen the tweet and alerted the Bureau.) They took him into custody and confiscated his two laptop computers and several flash drives, which he admitted contained malware.
I might take some of these claims of hacking aircraft more seriously if they weren't so laughably false. 737 doesn't even
have EICAS... 757 flight controls are cable actuated - how the
are they hacking a mechanical system - as are the engines on Rolls - and the PW2000 throttle position is hardwired between the flight deck and the FADEC with no other electrical connections - there is no entryway to hack. 757 flight and engine controls are not just hack resistant, they are hack proof.
Now, perhaps some clever person could affect FMC instructions or nav aids, but no one is going to take control of a 737 or 757 in a manner that can't be immediately remedied by the flight crew.
I'd be a bit more worried if they were talking a FBW aircraft...